Why do people feed their dogs chocolate?

When we went to the vet last spring for the usual heartworm testing, the assistant was beside herself with worry. Her own black lab was in one of the rooms as a patient. It seems that the lab ate the entire bag of chocolate Easter eggs. The vet said she would never have given her dog chocolate because she knew it could be fatal to her pet. Luckily, her dog survived.

Other owners are not so lucky. They think that any treat for a dog is the same as a treat for a human. Not so. There is a substance in chocolate called theobromine, a close structural relative to caffeine. Cacao beans have between 1.5 to 3% theobromine and a seven-fold lesser amount of caffeine.

Theobromine is ten times less stimulating than caffeine in humans. But not for dogs. A dog's system removes theobromine very slowly, making the dog vulnerable to cardiac and central nervous system distress from this alkaloid (and from caffeine, as well). A toxic dose is estimated as between 100 to 200 milligrams of theobromine per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of a dog's body weight.

Even the Hershey's Chocolate website discusses the harmful effects of their product on our pets. They say it may harm their heart, kidneys, and central nervous systems. Hershey's has an interesting chart of the theobromine concentration in their products here. (bookmark it for later)

Levels of theobromine vary in commercial chocolate.

• Milk chocolate contains about 200 milligrams per 100 grams (3.5 ounces),
• Unsweetened baking chocolate has about 1400 milligrams per 100 grams
• Cocoa has 2600 milligrams per 100 grams.

If a dog eats chocolate, the dog's body will produce more adrenaline, so that heart racing and severe heart arrythmia will occur.

Typical signs of a poisoning by chocolate are

• vomiting,
• diarrhea,
• excessive urinating,
• and hyperactivity.
• Finally there can be depression,
• coma,
• heart attack
• and death.

If you suspect chocolate toxicity, contact your vet right away.

* Onions are also toxic to our dogs. Onions and garlic contain the toxic ingredient thiosulphate. Onions are more of a danger. Pets affected by onion toxicity will develop haemolytic anaemia, where the pet’s red blood cells burst while circulating in its body. "

* Grapes or Raisins - no amount is safe Warning from the aspca website

from the ASPCA website:
"Around 1989, the APCC began noticing a trend in dogs who had eaten grapes or raisins: Nearly all developed acute renal (kidney) failure. "
"the ingested amounts varied considerably, from over a pound of grapes to as little as a single serving of raisins."

To Recap don't feed our pets:

• onions
• fresh garlic
• chocolate
• grapes or raisins

* * * Other potential dangers * * *

And more to watch out for:

• Walnuts
• Salt
• Nutmeg (for sure!)
• Avocados - all parts - fruit and pit
• mustard seeds
• Mushroom Plants - can be fatal if certain species of mushrooms are eaten